Graceful Aging: How to Get Clear Skin as You Age

Putting a "good face" on the act of graceful aging doesn't have to be difficult. You simply need to pay attention (or, should we say, more careful attention than you used to) to your skin! Age spots, sun damage, scars, and other marks that appear on skin can age us, making us look older than we would like. To counteract this effect, focus on a skin routine and lifestyle that gives you the best chance of having clear youthful-looking skin. In this article we provide a number of easy tips on how to get clear skin as you age!

Five Tips and Techniques on How to Get Clear Skin as You Age
The truth about aging is that we are all getting older, one day at a time, no matter our current chronological age. So while these tips are especially useful for people who want to ensure clear healthy skin as a part of graceful aging, the suggestions below are useful for anyone who wants clear skin at any age. The body responds well to good care and a healthy lifestyle from birth onward!

Clear Skin Tip #1: Avoid the Sun
Yes, we know! This is the tip that all beauty experts repeat and repeat and repeat. And here we are, repeating this tip yet again ... and we have good reason. Even though the incidence of skin cancer is on the rise, only one in seven Americans wears sunscreen daily (http://on.self.com/WsRLrZ). In addition, many sunscreens do not protect from both UVA and UVB rays from the sun, both of which can damage the skin ... not to mention age the skin!  A truly quality sunscreen must have a strong UVB filter plus as many as three UVA filters (http://bit.ly/XCJuAZ). Most sunscreens have only one UVA filter, if any. The best advice, of course, is simply to stay out of the sun. If you are going to be in the sun, avoid the hours between 10 am and 3 pm, when the rays are the most harmful. Cover up (hats and long sleeve shirts), and remember that you get sun exposure even on cloudy days!

Clear Skin Tip #2: Apply Antioxidants to Your Skin
The sad fact is that many of us were raised in an era when no one talked about skin protection or skin damage. So many of us baked ourselves in the sun with abandon (and apparently many Americans continue to do so today!). So what do you do if your skin has already been damaged by the sun? Here's the one word you need to know: antioxidants! Antioxidants are those molecular warriors that roam the body (or work on the surface of your skin) to repair, remove, or replace damaged cells. Antioxidants support your body's natural healing response. Our favorite antioxidant lotion is this one and we love it because it not only protects and renews your skin, it allows antioxidants to be absorbed through the skin and into your body. Now that is an antioxidant lotion that does double duty!

Clear Skin Tip #3: Take Antioxidants and Probiotics
This tip is a no-brainer. What is good for your biggest protective bodily organ (your skin) is also good for all the other organs inside your body. Nutritional experts say that "we have food on our faces," meaning that our diets are reflected by our facial skin. This is true because if your internal organs, such as your kidneys and liver, are not functioning well, they cannot purify your bodies. Some of those impurities will show up on your skin in the form of inflammation, eruptions, dark marks, poor or uneven tone, or marks and bumps. Not good. There are many good antioxidants on the market. Two that have proven effective for us include sprouted wheat in capsule form and Co-enzyme Q10. Adding probiotics and/or enzymes to your daily regimen of supplements can also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your digestive system, which means you will have fewer of those diet-related impurities on your face!

Clear Skin Tip #4: Rest and Exercise
Most people talk about "beauty rest," but few people actually get enough rest to keep their skin looking youthful and clear. Americans are among the most sleep-deprived people in the world. Is it any wonder that we look older than we actually are? Medical experts say that most people need seven to eight hours of continuous rest to allow their bodies to recuperate and rejuvenate from the stresses of daily life. Most people get between four and six hours of rest, even if they spend longer in bed. So getting enough beauty sleep is a big deal when it comes to graceful aging!

While sleeping and remaining at rest are important, movement is just as important to keeping skin clear and healthy. Exercise, even gentle exercise, increases circulation throughout the body. This helps your skin, which is the largest organ in your body, by flushing toxins from your skin cells. Improved circulation also helps your skin cells receive more oxygen and nutrients, which experts believe can stave off wrinkles and other signs of aging skin. Finally, remember that sweating is good since it can actually help unclog pores. Just be sure to wash your face right after your exercise routine as part of your regular skin care routine. After all, you wouldn't want all those toxins you just sweated out just sitting on your skin, right?

Clear Skin Tip #5: Stop Poisoning Your Skin
Just as most Americans don't put on sunscreen even though they know they "should," most smokers and drinkers don't stop themselves, even when they know that these two substances are among the most harmful to skin. If you want to age gracefully, stop smoking and drink only in moderation. Smoke not only dries out the skin, but it adds toxins to your body both inside and out. If you think wearing your diet on your face is bad, wearing the effects of smoking is even worse!

Alcohol also deters the body's natural healing processes because it causes dehydration and blood vessel dilation. Both of these can affect the tone and texture of skin, and certain forms of alcohol can cause an inflammatory effect in the skin cells. This is why long-term heavy drinkers often have red flushed faces. Drinking excessively is definitely not a way to have clear skin! Start drinking in moderation early because the damage caused by alcohol becomes permanent over time!

How to Get Clear Skin as You Age ... Not as Difficult as You Think!
At least, we hope that these tips appear simple. They do to us. Aging gracefully and keeping a clear youthful complexion is all about making small changes in your diet and your lifestyle a bit at a time. Start making these changes as early as possible in your life, and your skin will reward you many times over!


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.

Photo Credit: http://pinterest.com/goodhealth/look-younger-now/

Graceful Aging: Foods for Healthy Skin

Is your skin not participating in your program for graceful aging?

Is it perhaps aging faster than the rest of you? Few things are more demoralizing than looking in the mirror and realizing that your skin makes you look older than your actual age! The good news is this: just as it is never too late to have a happy childhood, it is never too late to give your skin a boost to keep it looking and healthy. In this article, we will give you tips on foods for healthy skin at any age!

Risk Factors for Aging Skin
Before we dive into the menu of great foods for healthy skin, let's first take a look at the risk factors that age our skin over time.

These include:

• sun exposure
• smoking
• drinking alcohol
• sleep position
• genetics
• loss of fat under the skin (causing wrinkles)
• gravity
• poor diet (more on this in the next section)

Most people know that exposing skin to the sun's harmful rays, especially between 10 am and 3 pm, can cause a lot of damage (called photo-aging). Sun exposure in early childhood often shows up more prominently as we age. Smoking and alcohol are also common "no-no's" when it comes to the graceful aging of skin. Smokers develop lines and wrinkles much faster than non-smokers, mostly because smoke contains so many damaging ingredients, not to mention the constant drying effect of smoking wafting over the skin. Alcohol dehydrates the body, which can contribute to dry skin and wrinkles. In addition, alcohol dilates the blood vessels, contributing to broken veins and redness in the skin.

The first three items on the list of risk factors above may be no surprise. What can be a surprise is that sleep position is a risk factor for aging facial skin. If you sleep in the same position for years--and your face comes in contact with the pillow while in that position--you might end up with a permanent "sag" plus wrinkles wherever your face touches your pillow. Experts now suggest sleeping on your back to avoid this problem. Genetics, loss of fat under the skin, and gravity are three other factors that can prevent graceful aging of the skin.

Finally, diet is a big deal when it comes to having healthy young-looking skin. What you eat literally shows up on your face. Who knows? You might have egg on your face. That's why the next section is dedicated to foods for healthy skin!

Foods for Healthy Skin
Foods for healthy skin are generally foods that are healthy for our bodies. The state of our skin is a reflection of the state of our general health, so some doctors can literally tell the quality of your diet based on the condition of your skin. Luckily, integrating foods for healthy skin into your diet isn't difficult at all. Here we list a few simple dietary additions that can have a big impact on the health of your skin.

Water
True, technically water is not truly considered a food. However, dehydration is one of the major causes of aging skin. If you want healthy skin, drink plenty of water. In addition to keeping skin healthy and rejuvenated, drinking enough water also supports the body in flushing toxins, preventing water retention, and keeping our internal organs functioning at top efficiency. How much water should you drink to keep your skin healthy? Most medical experts suggest using this formula:

• calculate 75% of your body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, this would be 112.5 pounds
• convert that figure to ounces (112.5 ounces, or about 14 glasses of water, 8 ounces each)
• add 16 ounces each for a dry climate or strenuous exercise to get your total suggested water intake

Foods High in Probiotics
Foods high in probiotics equal foods for healthy skin, not to mention a super-healthy body. Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that live in our intestines. They not only help us digest our food properly, but also play a major role in skin health. For instance recent studies indicate that adding daily probiotic-rich foods may reduce the incidence of eczema in children by more than 55%! This shows the correlation between probiotics and healthy skin, since eczema is a major skin problem. Eczema is also a sign of immune dysfunction, so adding probiotics to your diet can also support your overall immune health. Foods rich in probiotics include most fermented foods, such high-quality yogurt (such as low-fat and low-sugar Greek yogurt) or kefir. If you are not a fan of fermented foods, you can supplement your diet with probiotic capsules. We have found these strains of acidophilus and bifidus to be effective supplements for healthy skin, not to mention overall health.

Foods High in Essential Fatty Acids (mostly Omega-3)
Skin looks young when it has a lot of elasticity, and foods rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs) play a big role in helping your skin stay elastic rather than sag. Since saggy and wrinkly skin definitely has no place in a regimen of graceful aging, we suggest adding foods high in EFAs to your diet. There are two major types of EFAs: omega-3 and omega-6. To have healthy skin, you need foods that have 3 to 4 times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids. Most Americans get just the opposite--eating foods that give them 10 to 20 times as much omega-6 fatty acids (the wrong type!) as omega-3 fatty acids!

You can solve this problem by eating foods that have the right balance of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs. These types of foods include: seafood (especially deep-water fish like salmon and tuna), fresh fruit, dark-green leafy greens, micro-algae, seeds and nuts, and flax and olive oil. Adding just a little of each of these foods to your diet can make a significant difference to the appearance of your skin.

If your diet is just plain SAD (the Standard American Diet) and you don't have time to fix it, try supplementing your diet with this strain of AFA blue-green algae, which has the exact ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, making it one of Earth's perfect foods for healthy skin!

Foods High in Antioxidants
Antioxidants are those great molecular warriors that roam around our bodies, preventing damage from oxidative damage and boosting the body's immune response. Antioxidants prevent damage to the body, including our skin, making them among the top foods for healthy skin. What foods are high in antioxidants? Try these: fresh and dried fruits (especially berries), vegetables (including broccoli, spinach, carrots, sprouted greens, and kale), nuts, and even green tea or black coffee (both taken in moderation). For people with hectic schedules, fruits and veggies are now available in condensed capsule form --no kidding! These are handy ways to get your antioxidants when you are on the run!

At the End of the Day
If you haven't realized it by now, eating foods for healthy skin is also greatly beneficial for your entire body's health and immunity. Educating yourself about healthy foods is the first step toward younger-looking healthy skin. Actually eating those foods is the second step. One way to ensure that you eat healthy is to pick one day a week to prepare nutritious meals for the entire week. Just cook up a big batch of the foods suggested in this article, package them into meal-sized containers, and stick them in your fridge. That way, when you're on the run, you don't have to stop and think about what to do. You can just grab a container, eat, and go! Another alternative is to add supplements, including fruit-and-vegetable capsules plus probiotics and microalgae, to your diet. After all, if astronauts can eat healthy (kind of) in space, there's nothing wrong with getting your healthy food in capsules, right?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.

Photo Credit: http://ow.ly/her7u

Want to Age Gracefully? 5 Simple Steps

Of course, who doesn't want to age gracefully! I don't think anyone wants to just wake up one day with sagging skin under the arms, wrinkles galore, a poochy belly and some of the other conditions we associate with growing older. The good news is you don't have to. You can do things now that will allow you to age more gracefully and stay feeling and looking youthful as you grow into old age.

There are three major causes of aging:
�Cell and tissue damage from free radicals
�Enzyme depletion
�Reduced immune response in the body

Remember that our cells don't really age - they are constantly being replaced by new cells. On the cell level, aging occurs because the body's cells are under constant attack by damaging, unstable molecules called free radicals. The body's antioxidant enzymes are supposed to help neutralize free radicals before they cause cell damage. However, many stresses of modern living often create free radicals in quantities well beyond the body's natural ability to cope with them.

The digestive tract is a key element in our immune systems. Modern lifestyles also are really good at killing off the beneficial bacteria in our intestines that the body needs to fight off diseases.  The natural solution to aging gracefully is to maintain a lifestyle that reduces these modern stresses and allows the body to take care of the free radicals and support the digestive system. Here are some ways to do just that:


1. Make sure you get plenty of antioxidants. Antioxidants, found in brightly colored fruits and vegetables, fight off the effects of free radicals and prevent oxidative damage. Diets that help slow the process of aging tend to be those that have lots of raw fruit and vegetables, have more vegetable protein than animal protein, have whole grains and healthy oils such as omega 3. Limit the amount of meat, butter, eggs and dairy you eat and eat whole, organic foods whenever possible. That doesn't mean you can't ever have a chocolate donut or your favorite comfort food again. But for most of the time, eating healthy, drinking plenty of pure water every day and developing healthy eating habits. 

2. Supplement your diet with multivitamin and mineral supplements. Even if you are eating fresh foods not boxed and stuffed with preservatives, many of our foods still don't have the right vitamins and nutrients. The soil many of our foods are grown in has been depleted of these making supplementation a necessary component to get all the vitamins and nutrients we need. Make sure you get high quality however and avoid cheaper supplements with fillers and dyes. Super Sprouts and Algae from Simplexity Health has powerful anti-oxidants and Super Q10 with coenzyme Q10 can help the body fight off free radicals. Adding SBG Zymes from Simplexity Health is the simple solution to enzyme depletion and to insure enough enzymes to clean up waste in the body and cells.

3. Take probiotics to maintain digestive tract health. Probiotics such as acidophilus and bifidus create a favorable environment for the growth of beneficial flora, promote the normal movement of food through the intestine, lower the pH of the intestine, manufacture specific B vitamins, and promote immune function. You might also consider doing cleanses one or two times a year to clear toxins out of the body.

4. Ideally, we should get 30 minutes of regular exercise a day for circulation, strength and flexibility. If you can't do that, then at least do something that involves movement every day. Moving the body filters down to creating movement on the cell level. Exercises, such as particular yoga exercises, can help keep the digestive tract in good working order, tone up the arms, flatten the stomach, improve muscle tone, increase energy, and increase flexibility. Don't wait until you start to see signs of aging though. Start now before the signs of aging kick in.

5. Laugh and be happy (stress causes aging). People who have more enjoyment out of life tend to show less signs of aging. Having hobbies you enjoy, a spiritual practice, or work that you enjoy can go a long way to aging gracefully.

So you see you can reverse the effects of aging with very simple nutritional and lifestyle changes. Your body replaces all of its cells about once a year so you get a brand new you every year! To prevent aging, just start these 5 simple steps to support your body's natural processes for health.

Photo Credit: http://ow.ly/fjQpB

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.